Dear EverestNews.com, thanks for supporting Himalayan climbing. Here are the latest
dispatches phoned in by Jon Otto and transcribed by Mike Obrien. Yours
Sincerely, from Daniel Mazur and all of us at
SummitClimb.com

Dispatch #4, July 10 -
Basecamp

Two days ago we pushed up to
Camp 2 (6166m, 20,230 ft) and stashed two Sierra Designs Stretch Dome tents.
At around 5900m, on the way to Camp 2, a new crack had opened up sometime in
the last 4 years. This huge crevasse, 15m (50 ft) wide, was a bit of a
surprise. There is a nice path through it however, and its flat bottom is all
filled with snow. It would be a great place to camp.

On the way down from Camp
2, the rarified air was taking a toll on me. I had to rest every two turns I
took on my skis. However, as I approached Camp 1 it became easier to breathe,
and I got a nice rhythm, carving multiple turns on the hard, wind-blown snow.
With the snow conditions, the skiing seemed to change daily. Heavy winds and
below-freezing temps on the night of July 8th had turned wet powder into this
hard and slick stuff I was now laboriously skiing down. On July 9th, a blanket
of new snowfall made for some nice powder for Ted Callahan and team as they
carved turns back to Basecamp.

Today, Kah Shin, Bill, Bret,
Ding, Zhu ("Old Pig"), and I will be going back up to Camp 1, with the goal of
pushing up to Camp 2 tomorrow and spending the night there. It will be
interesting to see what new snow conditions we encounter. Everyone is in good
spirits.

A little bit about Zhu's
name. Zhu is his last name. The Chinese character for "Zhu" is pronounced just
like the character for "pig". Although the characters are different, they are
pronounced exactly the same. So, in good humor, he received the nickname
"Pig". It is a sign of respect to call someone "old" in China, thus his
paradoxical nickname of "Old Pig". However, here in Xinjiang Province - a
Muslim region - "Old Pig" has to be careful about where he uses his moniker...

Finally, thank you Mike
O'Brien (Cho Oyu summitter), for all your hard work in transcribing my wordy
dispatches. Talk to you soon. From Camp 2, Thanks! from Jon Otto and all of us
at SummitClimb.com

Dispatch #5, July 10 -
Basecamp: "Tibetan 'Sherpas'"

Our 2 Tibetan "sherpas" (Awong
and Pemba) are an invaluable asset to the team. It is not really accurate (or
appropriate) to call them "Sherpas", who are people from the highlands of
Nepal. Instead, the 2 young men are Tibetan, and grew up around Tingri near
the Everest region of Tibet. With a grant from Ozark Gear (a Beijing-based
outdoor equipment company), a school was formed in 1998 to train young Tibetan
men to do the high mountain work traditionally done by Nepalese Sherpas. The
school is now in its fifth year and has over 50 students, most coming from
poor, rural village communities around the Everest region. It is run by a
dedicated 38-year-old Tibetan man named Nima Tserin. It is Nima's passion to
give these young men a chance at an economically improved future. The school
has created a whole new generation of mountain workers, and it has given young
Tibetans a new and previously unimaginable future. The official name for a
graduate of this school is "Tibetan High-Altitude Assistant", but this is a
little cumbersome, and until someone comes up with something catchier, we are
going to stick with Tibetan "sherpa". Regardless of what we call them, they
are strong, able, and hard-working young men who live up to their
misappropriated namesake. Thanks! from Jon Otto and all of us at
SummitClimb.com

Dispatch #6, July 10 -
Basecamp: "The Danes - Alpine or Bust!"

After 5 days acclimatization
in Basecamp (4440m), and one night at 5000m, our Danish team members are now
ready for their attempt to climb Mustagata in Alpine-style. Bringing enough
food and gas for a 9-day single forward push, the Danes commence their climb
to Camp 1 today. We look forward to seeing them often as they make their way
up the mountain. Thanks! from Jon Otto and all of us at SummitClimb.com

Dispatch #7, July 10 -
Basecamp "Tomaz"

In July 2000, Daniel Mazur,
Walter Keller, and I climbed a new route up the east ridge of Mustagata. After
summitting, we descended the normal (west) route on July 16th and spent a
night at 7200m in an empty tent belonging to a Slovenian team. Descending to
Basecamp the following day, we learned that one Slovenian climber was still on
the mountain, and was feared to be in serious trouble.

Mr. Tomaz Kavar and Mr. Joze
Peljhan had spent 3 days in that same tent, while attempting the summit.
Something had been wrong with either Tomaz's skis or his legs, so Joze, who
had frostbitten fingers, had skied down to Basecamp to get help.

Tomaz had probably left his
tent only hours before we had inadvertently arrived at it. His frozen body was
found near to some Camp 3 tents on July 21st by a Spanish team, led by Jordi
Binyoli. Tomaz was 59. When found, Tomaz was sitting up on a ground pad,
clutching some nuts in his hand. One can only suppose that he sat down for a
rest and maybe some sleep, sleep from which he never woke. The Spaniards
buried him in the snow, and marked the spot with a pair of skis. I can only
imagine that if we were just a day - or even a few hours! - earlier, that we
may have met Tomaz somewhere on the mountain or in his tent, and been able to
save his life. But on the big mountains, normal rescue efforts can take days
to reach a person, time which the victim often cannot spare. Successful
rescues are often more dependent upon those who can help being in the right
place at the right time. But, in Tomaz's case, there was no one else at Camp 3
at that time.

Upon arriving at Basecamp
this year, I noticed a rock with Tomaz's name carved, in big letters, into the
face of it. Two days ago, Tomaz's younger brother, Janez, arrived at Basecamp
to pay tribute to his fallen brother. Listening to Janez talk and tell
stories, I have learned a little about Tomaz and his family, and I hope to
learn more.

Tomaz left behind his wife,
Maja Kavar, and 2 daughters, Urska and Mojca. The younger one, Mojca, is 14
and is starting high school. Urska is 18 and beginning college at the
University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. They live in the town Radovljica, near
Lake Bleol.

Janez put a plaque dedicated
to his brother on a large boulder facing the west face of Mustagata. Each
night here at Basecamp, the glow of 2 candles burning in remembrance of Tomaz
cautions us against approaching these great peaks with anything but the utmost
respect and humility.

Before he left, Janez was
kind enough to give me a shirt as a gift. On the shirt there are two hands,
and extending from the hands are 7 fingers, symbolizing 7000 meters. This was
a picture that Tomaz's climbing partner and friend, Joze Peljhan, took of
Tomaz when he arrived at 7000 meters. It will forever remind me of the
unfortunate tie that binds our two teams together here on Mustagata. In
memoriam, Tomaz Kavar (1941-2000). Sincerely, Jon Otto

Thanks again EverestNews.com,
for all of your fine assistance, from Jon Otto, Mike O'Brien, Daniel Mazur,
and all of us at SummitClimb.com

Dispatch 8: Mustaga Ata Dispatch for July 7

Today, Bill, Bret, Ding,
Kah Shin, Zhu, Awong and Pemba (our 2 Tibetan "sherpas"), and I are at Camp 1.
Kah Shin and I are having a late dinner of ravioli and instant rice. Awong and
Pemba have had to carry loads up from Camp 1 every day, until we were in
position to push higher up the mountain.

Tomorrow morning we will take
off and explore the route to Camp 2. I suspect most of the crevasses will be
filled in, due to all of the snow on the mountain this year.

Our 4 Danish climbers, who
are going to attempt to climb the mountain "Alpine-style", today went up a
different part of the mountain, up to 5000 meters, where they will try to
acclimatize. Then, they will return to Basecamp tomorrow, where they will
spend a few days before ascending again, this time using the same route as us.
They will be moving slowly, as they have heavy backpacks full of food and
fuel. We will talk to you again tomorrow, hopefully from Camp 2. All the best,
Sincerely, Jon Otto from SummitClimb.com.